Antonoff



Oct. 11, 1960 ANTONOFF 2,955,505

MOTOR-ACTUATED DRIVE MEANS FOR FARE-COLLECTING APPARATUS Filed Feb. 26, 1958 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Oct. 11, 1960 w ANTONOFF 2,955,605

MOTOR-ACTUATEID DRIVE MEANS FOR FARE-COLLECTING APPARATUS Filed Feb. 26, 1958 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 1 fraz'ervfiar Waller flrziwzoff j! 2% United States Patent MOTOR-ACTUATED DRIVE MEANS FOR FARE- COLLECTIN G APPARATUS Filed Feb. 26, 1958, Ser. No. 717,704

Claims. (Cl. 133-8) This invention pertains to fare-collecting and registering apparatus of the type wherein coins (the term coin here being used to designate actual money or tokens) are presented one-by-one to diameter-gauging means (thereby to determine the denomination of the coin) by a rotor having peripheral pockets, each designed to receive one coin, which is driven intermittently step-by-step thereby to bring coins one-by-one into the field of action of a movable gauging finger and to hold the coin stationary while it is being gauged, the present invention relating more especially to improved means for driving the rotor.

Apparatus of the above type is disclosed and claimed in the co-pending application for Letters Patent, Serial No. 216,703, filed March 21, 1951, by Harry B. Miller, upon which Patent No. 2,848,158 issued on August 19, 1958, the present invention relating to improved means for driving the rotor in apparatus of the general type disclosed in the Miller application.

Coin-collecting apparatus, such as is disclosed in said Miller application, has come into very general use in public transportation systems, toll roads and so forth, and in other situations where a fare, price or fee may be paid by the deposit of coins of the same or different denominations. In order that such apparatus may respond in the intended way to the deposit of coins or tokens of different denominations (different sizes), it is requisite that the apparatus include some means for identifying each coin as to denomination. In apparatus embodying the construction disclosed in the said Miller patent, there is an electric motor, which, by speed reducing means and a one-revolution clutch of the pawl and ratchet type, turns a main shaft; means operative to prevent reverse rotation of the main shaft, the latter turning once for each cycle of operation of the mechanism; a rotor, such as above referred to, which is driven by suitable motiontransmitting means from the main shaft sothat, during each cycle, it makes a fractional turn corresponding to the number of its coin-receiving pockets; and a coin-gauging finger which moves back and forth along a path which is radial with respect to the axis of the rotor and which moves toward the center of the rotor, while the latter is momentarliy stationary, so as to contact the edge of a coin seated in the uppermost coin pocket of the rotor.

In the apparatus of the aforesaid Miller patent, as heretofore built and put into commercial use, speed reducing means is interposed between the motor shaft and the main shaft wherein a worm on the motor shaft drives a worm wheel on the main shaft, thus providing a substantial reduction ratio between said shafts. Apparatus of the kind just above referred to is normally satisfactory with respect to the performance of its intended function, but it sometimes happens, although infrequently and for reasons which have not been satisfactorily explained, that as a coin is moved by the rotor toward the gauging position, its edge will contact the lateral edge of the gauging element as the latter starts its downgoing or operative stroke and thus the coin becomes jammed between the gauging element and that arm of the rotor which is pro- Patented Oct. 11, 1960 pelling the coin. Because of the Worm drive between the motor and main shafts and because the motion-transmitting means between the main shaft and the rotor is of unyielding character, the resilient pressure exerted by the rotor arm on the coin, when such a jam takes place, is such that the coin is firmly held and the rotor and other operative parts of the machine are stalled. Unless the coin can be dislodged at once, the motor may be burned out (unless a fuse be provided) and gear teeth may be broken. However, because the bus driver, toll collector or other person who is charged with the supervision of the mechanism is not permitted to remove the front panel of the apparatus so as to obtain access to the lodged coin, and because of the pawl and ratchet clutch between the motor shaft and main shaft, and also because locking means is specifically provided to prevent reverse rotation of the main shaft, reversal of the latter would be impossible even if provision were made for reversing the motor shaft. Thus the apparatus may be seriously damaged and at least must remain out of commission for a substantial period, for example, to await the arrival of the bus at an authorized service station or the arrival of an authorized repair man. So long as the apparatus is out of commission, fare collection becomes a hand operation and the percentage of fares reported by the bus driver, as compared with the fares actual-1y collected, then depends solely upon the honesty of the bus driver.

One object of the invention is to provide improved means for driving the rotor such as further to reduce the frequency of occurrence of jams of the kind above referred to (wherein a coin becomes lodged between the rotor arm and the gauging element). A further object is to provide improved means for driving the rotor such that, if a coin is momentarily caught between the rotor arm and gauging element, it will be freed automatically so that the apparatus can be restored to normal operation without prolonged interruption or damage to the parts. A further object is to provide apparatus of the above type wherein the advance of the rotor and the operative motion of the gauging element are so timed as to minimize the possibility of a coin becoming caught between the rotor arm and gauging element. A further object is to provide means which is operative automatically to restart the apparatus after a jam has been cleared.

As a suggested mode of attaining the above objects, the the speed-reducing, motion-transmitting means between the shaft of the motor and main shaft may comprise a train of gears, desirably helical gears (in lieu of a worm and wheel drive) and (if so desired) resiliently yielding connections between certain of the driving and driven parts, whereby a slight reverse motion of the rotor (in response to the resilient downward pressure exerted by the gauging element on the coin) can take place, while the motor is stopped, if a coin is caught between the rotor arm and gauging element, so that the coin is thereby freed and a jam is avoided. As a further insurance against the lodgement of a coin between the gauging finger and rotor arm, the present invention contemplates a relative arrangement of the parts such that when the rotor comes to rest with its uppermost pocket in position to hold a coin for the gauging operation, the vertical radial plane of the rotor which passes through said upper or coingauging pocket will be nearer to the following or coinpropelling arm of the rotor than to the arm at the opposite side of said pocket. A further feature of the invention is the employment of an overload circuit-breaker for the driving motor whereby, if a coin be momentarily caught between the rotor arm and the gauging element, the motor automatically stops, thus freeing the driving gear train so that back-lash between the teeth of the gears, reverse motion of the gears and/or the resiliently yieldable connections allow such slight reverse motion of the rotor as to free the lodged coin.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be pointed out in the following more detailed description and by reference to the accompanying drawings wherein:

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary front elevation of fare-collecting and registering apparatus of the type above referred to with the front panel removed to show the interior construction and with the parts disposed in the position for gauging a coin;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary view similar to Fig. 1, but showing only the gauging finger and a portion of the coin-propelling rotor and diagrammatically indicating the preferred approximate angular position of the rotor while it dwells in the coin-gauging position;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary vertical section, with parts in elevation and with the casing shown in broken lines, illustrating the means for driving the main shaft of the machine;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary horizontal section on the line 44 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary front view similar to Fig. 1, showing a coin lodged between the edge of the gauging finger and the coin-propelling arm of the rotor so that the apparatus is jammed and its operation has ceased;

Fig. 5a is a force diagram illustrative of the force exerted by the coin-gauging finger upon a coin lodged between said finger and the coin-propelling arm of the rotor;

Fig. 6 is a view similar to Fig. 5, but showing the rotor as having been reversed slightly (though much exaggerated as compared with the actual condition) from the position shown in Fig. 5 so that the coin has been dislodged and has dropped down into the bottom of the rotor pocket in proper position to be advanced to the gauging position; and,

Fig. 7 is a wiring diagram.

Since the apparatus (herein chosen for illustration), in general, is like that more fully described in the abovenoted co-pending application, it is believed sufiicient to describe herein only those parts which are concerned particularly with the present improvement, with passing reference to some of the adjunctive features to provide basis for describing the improvements and the improved function.

It will be understood that the apparatus will have a suitable hopper (not shown) for the reception of coins which may be of different denominations (the term coin, as above noted, herein being employed not only to designate money but also tokens such as are commonly employed in transportation systems for paying fares), the hopper being provided with a suitable delivery slot at its lower part through which coins drop and eventually rest on edge against the inclined track 69 while leaning backwardly against a suitable forwardly and downwardly inclined support 59. The coins roll downwardly along this track by the action of gravity and are thus separated one from another and eventually drop from the lower end of this track 69 onto a second track comprising a substantially straight portion 71 which is inclined to the horizontal in the opposite direction to the track 69, thus tending to reverse the rotation of the coins in passing from one track to the other. Desirably, the track 71 has an arcuate upper portion 72 which is concave toward the right (Fig. 1). Coins delivered from the lower end of the stationary track 71 drop onto the upwardly convex curved surface 75 of a guide 73 which is pivotally mounted on a stud 74 and which is pivotally mounted on a stud 74 and which is normally held in coin-guiding position against a suitable stop by a spring. The coins which roll from the track 71 onto the curved edge 75 of the guide are assorted as to thickness by means of a transversely extending inclined bar 79, spaced forwardly from the rear wall 59, to form a slot of a width just sufiicient to permit a coin of normal thickness to pass through between the bar and the wall 59, but to prevent the passage of bent coins or coins of abnormal thickness. In the inclined rear wall 59, there is an opening which is normally closed by a door 83 which may be opened, when desired, to discharge slugs or bent coins, which have collected on bar 79, into a suitable receptacle (not shown) at the rear of the wall 59. Coins of the proper thickness pass down below the bar 79 into a coin-receiving chamber 81 within which there is arranged an oscillatory coinagitator 112 having a concave coin-engaging edge 113. This coin-agitator is normally held against a stop by a spring in the position indicated in Fig. 1, but is oscillated in a clockwise direction about its pivotal support 116 once during each cycle of the operation of the machine by motor-actuated means.

The apparatus comprises a main shaft 124- (Fig. 3) whose axis is horizontal and which is arranged to turn in suitable bearings carried by the frame. On this drive shaft are mounted suitable devices (not shown) for actuating the various operative elements of the machine concerned with the gauging, assorting and recording of the fares deposited. These parts, carried by the main shaft which are not herein illustrated, are fully shown and described in the aforesaid co-pending application.

On this shaft 124, there is fixed a helical gear 166a (Fig. 3) which meshes with a complemental helical gear 172a fixed to a vertical shaft 300. This shaft is driven by another vertical shaft 301, which is axially aligned with the shaft 300, by means of an interposed coupling which includes a thick disc 302 of resilient material, for example rubber, which permits slight relative rotational movement of the shafts 300 and 301 although normally transmitting motion from shaft 301 to shaft 300. A large helical gear 303 (Fig. 4) is fixed to the lower part of the shaft 301 and meshes with a helical gear 304 of substantially smaller diameter mounted on a horizontal shaft 305 to which there is also fixed a helical gear 307 of larger diameter than the gear 304. This gear 307 meshes with a gear 308 of smaller diameter which is fixed to a horizontal shaft 309 which is axially aligned with the shaft 310 of the electric motor 171a. A coupling interposed between the shafts 309 and 310 comprises a thick disc 311 of rubber or other resilient material so that slight relative rotational motion of the shafts 309 and 310 is permitted, the rubber discs being under torsional stress when transmitting the load. These couplings also permit the axes of the shafts 300 and 301 and 309 and 310 to be slightly out of alignment without binding in their bearings, thus avoiding the necessity of extreme accuracy in manufacturing and assembling these parts. It will be noted that by reason of the gear train, just above described, there is a very substantial reduction in speed between that of the motor shaft 310 and the main shaft 124 of the apparatus, the reduction in speed being such that it is possible to have the shaft 124 make a single revolution for each cycle of operation of the machine in registering a coin. Provision is made, as by a switch X in the motor circuit actuated by a cam on main shaft 124, to stop the motor at the end of each registering cycle. Moreover, as above noted, the motor circuit desirably includes an overload circuit and breaker to stop the motor, if a jam occurs, and thus avoid damage.

Each of the constituent coins of a fare is guided by the coin-feeder or agitator 112 from chamber 81 into one of the pockets of a rotor 129. This rotor is a thin disc parallel to and overlying the plate 59 and has a plurality of equally spaced, peripherally open pockets 130, these pockets being separated by radial arms a. Each of these pockets is of a width (circumferentially of the rotor) at least as great as the diameter of the largest coin which is to be registered by the machine; and, each pocket has a bottom wall of convex arcuate curvature, concentric with the axis of the rotor disc. The rotor is fixed to the forward end of a shaft 132 (Fig. 3) which has a bevel gear 136 secured (preferably adjustably) to its rear end. This bevel gear meshes with a smaller bevel gear 144 which is fixed to a horizontal shaft 145 which is caused to make a part rotation once for each revolution of the main shaft 124 by means of an interposed Geneva mechanism-a portion of which is shown at 155. As here illustrated, the rotor 129 has twelve pockets 130 and the gears 136 and 144 are of such relative diameters and the Geneva motion is of such design that the rotor is turned of a revolution during each complete revolution of the main shaft 124.

A gauging finger 212, having an arcuate coin-engaging lower edge 213, is fixed to a forwardly directed arm 197 (Fig. 3) of a rigid frame 190 which is pivoted to swing forwardly and rearwardly on a suitably supported shaft 199. A spring 205 (Fig. 3) tends to rock this frame in a counterclockwise direction as viewed in Fig. 3, thus moving the gauging finger 212 downwardly toward the axis of the rotor 129. A cam (not shown) which turns with the main shaft 124 normally holds the gauging finger at the upper limit of its path of motion except when the rotor 129 is stationary with one of its pockets in the top position for holding a coin for the performance of the gauging operation.

The starting of a cycle of operation of the machine is brought about automatically in response to the deposit of a coin. For this purpose, the door 83, above referred to, is provided with an opening at a point located immediately behind the coin-receiving pocket of the rotor, that is to say, the pocket which next precedes the top or coin-gauging pocket. As more fully disclosed in the patent to Miller, No. 2,810,465, October 22, 1957, there is arranged Within the opening a movable contact member, for example a resiliently supported button 125,

which, by engagement with a coin entering the firstnamed pocket, is forced backand,'through appropriate connections, closes a switch and, by means of a relay, supplies current to the motor 171a. The circuit so closed is automatically held closed while the main shaft 124 makes a single revolution, whereupon the circuit is broken automatically by means turning with the main shaft as above suggested.

In the normal operation of the machine, a coin within the chamber 81 and contacting the surface 113 of the coin-agitator rolls and drops into the receiving pocket 130x (Fig. 1) of the rotor and, in so doing, engages the contact button 125 and so starts the machine into operation. Normally, the rotation of the rotor 129, in a counterclockwise direction, carries this coin into the position shown at'K (Fig. 1) where the coin is held stationary while the gauging finger 212 is moved downwardly by spring 205 into contact with'the edge of the coin. The parts dwell in this position until another coin enters a pocket located at the position of the pocket 130x as shown in Fig. 1 whereupon the gauging finger is raised and the coin K is moved one step to the left while the next coin is brought into the gauging position.

It will be noted that because of the high speed at which such apparatus is driven (for example at a rate sufiicient to gauge 300 coins per minute), there is very little time for the coin to travel from the position of the pocket 130x to the position shown by the coin at K. Although in normal operation and for long periods of time this operation is satisfactorily performed, it sometimes occurs, for reasons which have not been determined with any certainty, that a coin, as shown at C, Fig. 5, moving between the positions shown at 130x and K, may be caught between the corner of the gauging finger 212 as it is released by its cam and begins to move to gauging position and the edge of the coin-propelling arm 1301) of the rotor. Under such circumstances, unless provision is made for releasing the coin, the machine is stalled and (except for the use of an overload circuit-breaker or a fuse) with possibility of serious damage to its parts and with certainty that the apparatus will remain out of commission until the coin can be dislodged.

As indicated in Fig. 5a, when such a jam occurs the gauging finger has been released by its cam and the force exerted on the gauging finger by the spring 205 in the downward direction, as indicated at T, has a diagonal component N acting upon the coin C in a direction indicated at D tending to turn the rotor reversely.

In the apparatus such as that disclosed in the aforesaid Patent No. 2,848,158, the drive of the parts is positive and by means of a pawl-and-ratchet clutch, and wormand-wheel reduction gearing which admits of no possible reverse rotation of the rotor, even though it were possible to reverse the motor. However, by the present arrangement, drive of the parts is automatically interrupted when a jam occurs and slight reverse rotation of the rotor is permitted, first by reason of the fact that the gear train between the motor 171a and the main shaft 124 comprises helical gears rather than a worm and wheel. Such helical gearing permits reverse rotation of the parts although providing all of the desired speed reduction, while the several sets of intermeshing gear teeth furnish some degree of back-lash, all of which permits sufiicient reverse rotation of the rotor, in response to force exerted on the rotor through the jammed coin by the gauging finger, to dislodge the coin which has been caught between the rotor arm and the gauging finger. Moreover, the shafts, which carry the intermeshing gears have some possibility of slight relative rotation, by reason of the resilient couplings employed, which may be further sufiicient to reverse rotation of the rotor sufficient to disengage the coin. Of course,'in order that such action may take place, the motor circuit must have been broken. In accordance with the present invention, the motor circuit may include an overload circuit-breaker, which will automatically break the circuit if, for example, the rotor offers undue resistance to turning because of a jammed coin; and the circuit-breaker may be of the kind which can be reset by manual operation of a part external to the case of the apparatus and remote therefrom, if desired. However, it is preferred to provide for automatic restarting of the motor after a certain time interval and, for that purpose, a circuit of the type shown in Fig. 7 may be employed.

While, in the above arrangement, the pressure exerted by the gauging finger against the coin is sufficient to break a jam which has once occurred and in any event is aided in breaking a jam by reversal action of the resilient couplings, it is preferred, in accordance with the present invention, to provide an arrangement which has been found advantageous in minimizing the possibility of the occurrence of a jam. To this effect, the parts are desirably arranged as illustrated in Fig. 2 so that when the rotor stops with its uppermost pocket in position to hold a coin for the performance of the gauging operation, that vertical radius R (Fig. 2) of the rotor which passes through the pocket 130 is located slightly nearer to the coin-propelling arm 13% of the rotor than it is to the opposite arm 130a of the pocket 130. Such an arrangement insures the entry of the coin into the gauging position at a slightly earlier interval, after the rotor starts, than is true of the arrangement disclosed in the aforesaid application wherein such vertical radius of the rotor bisects the pocket which holds the coin during the ganging operation.

Fig. 7 illustrates a motor circuit such as to stop the motor in response to overload and to hold the motor circuit broken for a predetermined time interval and then automatically to close the motor circuit. The circuit shown in Fig. 7 receives alternating current from a source A and normally delivers current to the motor M through the line D. A circuit-breaker B of conventional type opens a normally closed switch S in the line D in response to abnormal current flow, but immediately thereafter again closes the switch S When the circuit-breaker opens the switch S it also opens normally closed switch S in the circuit of a relay R thus allowing the normally open switch S to close so as to supply current tothe time delay relay R which thus opens the normally closed switch S in the motor supply line D. A charge builds up in the capacitor C of the time delay relay and, after switch S has opened, the charge in the capacitor keeps the switch S open for a predetermined time interval while the charge is leaking away; thereupon, the switch S closes and the motor circuit is completed so that the apparatus can again function in normal manner.

By the above improvements, the frequency of the occurrence of a jam, occasioned by the lodging of a coin between the gauging finger and the rotor arm has been decreased, and such a lodged coin, if such does occur, is automatically released, thus avoiding the undesirable effects of such a jam as herein referred to above.

While a desirable embodiment of the invention has herein been disclosed by way of example, it is to be understood that the invention is broadly inclusive of any and all modifications falling within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. Motor-driven, fare-collecting and registering apparatus of the class described wherein a rotor, having peripheral coin-receiving pockets separated by radial arms, is turned intermittently to bring a coin into gauging position; a gauging finger moves in a predetermined path toward and from the axis of rotation of the rotor; a spring urges the gauging finger toward the axis of the rotor for gauging a coin dwelling in gauging position; a motor having a rotary shaft provides the power for driving the apparatus; and driving connections transmit motion from the motor shaft to the rotor and gauging finger, characterized in that the rotor is so mounted on its shaft that, when the upper pocket of the rotor is dwelling in coin-gauging position, the center of the coin is located beyond the vertical radius of the rotor, in the direction of movement, whereby the coin is carried safely beyond the downwardly moving corner of the gauging finger as the latter makes its operative stroke.

2. In combination with a motor-driven, fare-collecting and registering apparatus of the class described wherein a rotor, having peripheral coin-receiving pockets separated by radial arms, is turned intermittently to bring a coin into gauging position, wherein a gauging finger moves in a predetermined path toward and from the axis of rotation of the rotor, and wherein an electric motor provides the power for driving the apparatus; an overload circuit breaker for opening the motor circuit when a coin is lodged between the gauging finger and a rotor arm; and drive means transmitting motion from the motor to the rotor, said drive means including couplings which are torsionally stressed in transmitting said motion, whereby, when the motor circuit is opened by lodging of a coin between the gauging finger and a rotor arm, the torsional stress. in said couplings will reverse the rotor for permitting escape of the coin from said lodgment.

3. The combination as set forth in claim 2 wherein said couplings each comprise rubber means interposed between and engaged with each of two rigid drive means.

4. In combination with a motor-driven, fare-collecting and registering apparatus of the class described wherein a rotor, having peripheral coin-receiving pockets se ara-ted by radial arms, is turned intermittently to bring a coin into gauging position, wherein a gauging finger moves in a predetermined path toward and from the axis of rotation of the rotor, wherein a spring urges the gauging finger toward the axis of the rotor for gauging a coin dwelling in gauging position, and wherein an electric motor, having a rotary shaft, provides the power for driving the apparatus, an overload circuit breaker for opening the motor circuit when a coin is lodged between the gauging finger and a rotor arm, and driving connections transmitting motion between the motor shaft and rotor, said driving connections including couplings which are torsionally stressed in transmitting said motion and intermeshing gears of a type permitting reverse rotation of the rotor, whereby, when a coin is lodged between the gauging finger and a rotor arm thereby opening the motor circuit, the torsional stress in said couplings and the pressure exerted on the rotor by the gauging finger through said coin will reverse said rotor sufiiciently to release said coin.

5. The combination as set forth in claim 4, wherein a time-delay relay closes the motor circuit a certain period after it has been opened by said lodging of a coin, whereby the apparatus will resume operation automatically after said release of the coin.

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